The Invincible Hero 4 The Samsara Pod

Not all strings were the same, in fact, one could perceive that as the sphere continued to move, multiple strings would combine together while other strings would break off of the pod. As the sphere continued its journey the strings turned into cords which became thicker and thicker. Occasionally new thing strings would attache to the sphere. These strands and cords would often get twisted around each other.

Within the sphere was an enormous s.p.a.ce. There were several rooms and levels to the sphere. In one room there was a large area with five tubes next to a depression in the floor. One tube seemed to contain a large quant.i.ty of blood. Another tube had something s.h.i.+mmering and bright.

A figure moved to the tubes. This figure looked like a robotic scholar. Even though it was a robot, it's features were very human. In fact, if not for its metallic exterior it could pa.s.s as a human. the metal of the body even had the small wrinkles of a body on the hands and eyes. Small forearm hair sprouted from the skin. The hairs on its head and arms also had a metallic sheen. Even though the robot had many features that seemed organic, in reality, everything had a metallic sheen. It was a robot. It wore blue and yellow robes clasping its hands behind its back as if waiting for something.

Standing near the tubes, the robot watched as the tube with the s.h.i.+mmering and bright substance opened. Out stepped a nearly translucent figure. The figure looked like a ghostly version of Dr. Lorne Longoak, the Invincible Hero.

The Robot's eyes shone: "Greetings young lord." the robot said.

The ghostly figure was examining his nearly translucent body. It was clearly confused and kept looking at its body. "Am I dead?" it wondered. This thought caused it to start to look around. Immediately it noticed the robot.

Noticing that it seemed to be a metallic being of some sort he concluded it probably wasn't an angel. It could be a robot angel he thought. Was he in robot heaven? Was Lorne really a robot previously. Lorne realized he was a little confused so he pushed those random thoughts out of his mind.

As it further looked around it realized it was in some kind of a lab. It turned around and examined the metallic tube it came from and noticed the blood tube next to it. Next to the blood tube were three other tubes filled with different colored liquids. Finally, he spotted a deep half sphere depression on the floor. It seemed that four of the five tubes fed directly into the depression. It was some kind of pool for these liquids. The spectral Lorne noticed that there were other connections to the pool, but what those connections would provide he wasn't sure.

"It's called the gene pool." The robot answered the question in Lorne's mind. The robot's speaking woke Lorne up from his thoughts. Lorne turned to look at the robot.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Who do you think I am," the robot responded.

"BS42?" Lorne responded immediately.

"Yes, this is my true form." the Warbox responded.

Lorne merely nodded his head in acceptance of the robot's answer. It was more or less what he expected. What other intelligent robots called him young lord?

"Where are we?" Lorne asked.

"We are in the Samsara pod." the Warbox replied.

"Why is my body translucent?" Lorne asked another question.

"Your body was nearly destroyed by that Zimwarn Commander. One of the jobs of the rebirth prep-room, where we are now, is to prepare the rebirther for their next body. The first thing that had to be done was to separate your soul from your body. Next, it was necessary to help your soul take its soul form as this isn't instinctive for most people. Next, we take the remainder of your physical body and turn it into a pure genetic material. Blood is the best." BS42 said.

"What are these other tubes for?" Lorne continued asking questions.

"The two tubes next to the blood tube are meant to receive the genetic materials of your future parents. The third tube contains a solution that will help integrate all four liquids together to form the embryo for your new body." BS42 answered.

"These other connections to the gene pool?" Lorne asked.

"Those are special energy nodes that will help your soul integrate with the new body." the Warbox answered.

Lorne fell into deep thought. "Samsara pod, I guess this is really about reincarnation. Who knew there was such a scientific way to do this." Lorne thought.

"What do I do until I'm reincarnated, wait in here?" Lorne asked.

"No, I'd like to take you on a tour of the s.h.i.+p," BS42 said.

"s.h.i.+p? I thought this was a Samsara pod." Lorne said.

"It is, but the process of Samsara isn't so simple, not if you want to arrive at the best place possible. Come with me, I'm sure you'll understand after a quick look around the s.h.i.+p." The Warbox said.

Lorne simply nodded in acceptance of the Warbox's suggestion. What else did he have to do? Besides he was very curious about this whole place.

***

Back at the outer edge of Earth's solar system, everyone continued to stare out where Lorne had been just moments ago. The Usurper's Commander suddenly started laughing maliciously.

"Hahahaha, I knew the boy was weak but one little blast from me and there aren't even atoms left! I even disintegrated his Samsara pod! HAHAHA" the Commander kept laughing. All of the anger and hate he had previously was finally released. He felt much better. The death of this kid was a shock for all these Royals and their pets. Taking care of this group of Royals and their pet humans were just made much easier.

"What do you know about anything?!" Lorne's father sneered. Only he and Lorne's mother knew that right now Lorne was being sent through the multiverse to finally be reborn. Lorne's father looked at the Commander, giving him a deadly glare. Then, he did something that no one expected; he snapped his fingers.

From the darkness of s.p.a.ce appeared ma.s.sive wars.h.i.+ps even more intimidating than the ones that Lorne's group had been facing earlier. These s.h.i.+ps had set a perimeter around the Usurper's s.h.i.+ps. Out of the s.h.i.+ps flew countless elite soldiers. These soldiers were wearing a totally different kind of armor. The majority of the soldiers were wearing bright silver armor over a tunic. A special neck scarf came out from cuira.s.s. They wore armored short boots over leggings that went down into the short boots. A baltea hung over the groin area. The soldiers were each equipped with a tall s.h.i.+eld, spear, sword, and powerful looking blasters. These armors looked far more vicious and imposing than the armor worn by the Usurpers.

Some of the soldiers wore a golden version of the armor. There was one soldier who wore a black and red version of the armor with some differences. He wore a much smaller s.h.i.+eld and instead of a spear he carried a halberd. Instead of a sword, he carried a Warhammer. On his shoulders were two cannons. Next to him flew a woman similarly outfitted only she carried a thin short sword and daggers instead of the halberd and Warhammer. Her shoulder cannons were more slender and graceful looking.

The male and female warriors flew next to Lorne's father and mother. Both bowed to Lorne's parents.

"We, Zug Crisos and Zug Impendia, greet Lord Emperor." The pair said together. Although the couple shared the word 'Zug' in their name it didn't mean they were siblings or married. The 'Zug' name was actually a t.i.tle. It referred to the male and female First Warriors.

Crisos was the King's, First Warrior. While Impendia was the Queen's, First Warrior. This pair represented the absolute best warriors of the Empire aside from the Emperor and Empress. Every King under the Empire had their own Zug but they were either Lesser Zug or Greater Zug. Only the Emperor's Zug had no addition to their t.i.tle.

The Zug were the direct representatives of the Emperor and Empress. What they said was the direct word for word command of their master. No one ever contradicted the Zug.

"Wait a moment, I will talk with this Commander and then I will give you orders." The Emperor said.

"Yes, my Lord," Crisos said as he bowed.

"I shall attend to the Empress." Impendia also bowed to the Emperor. Zug Impendia was under the direct command of the Empress. The Emperor had no right to command her. If he wanted her to do something he had to ask his wife to command her.

Lorne's Father, the Emperor, now turned his attention back to the Commander who was trembling with absolute fear. He didn't say a word. He didn't know how it had happened or why it was happening he only knew it was happening. He was surrounded by the Emperor's forces. He had been told that the coup had been accomplished. All that was left was to clean up the Royals, and that he as the top commander of the Usurper Forces had the honor of forming the plan to accomplish this goal. He was also ordered to personally kill, without mercy, the Emperor and his family.

The Commander remembered the joy and honor he felt when he was entrusted with this a.s.signment. He gathered all the forces under his command and laid out a plan to finish off all the Royals at the same time. The Usurper forces were sent to every Royal world to kill the leaders of those worlds and replace them. Based on his intelligence this had all happened. They were utterly victorious!

Now, however, he realized either thing had not gone the way he expected or all of the remaining Royal power had gathered here. It didn't really matter which answer was correct as either way it only meant that he and his men were dead.

"What did you say to me earlier? Get your old bones over here? Something about a beheading, I think." The Emperor gave the Commander a deadly cold stare.

"Your name is Hei Ark from the Pellax family if I remember." The Emperor said.

"Yes, your majesty." Commander Hei Ark bowed subserviently. His only hope was a painless death, it was all he hoped for now.

"Did I give you permission to speak you lowly worm?!" The Emperor roared. Commander Hei Ark trembled even more. He immediately got on his knees and bowed to the king with his face touching the dirt.

"Your High Ancestor Kel Pellax is one of my most loyal and oldest servants, a true friend even. His merits are beyond measure. Before your betrayal, you had earned many merits as well. Then you murdered my son! You deserve death but that would be a waste of resources. Instead, I will take your immortal body for a more worthy servant, and your soul will be used as a Warbox AI core. If you build up enough merits again you might gain your freedom one day and could be allowed to cultivate once again. However, no matter what, your soul shall be forever sealed. You will never pose a danger to my family or this Empire again!" The Emperor said.

"Crisos, have Hei Ark taken back to the Imperial prison. Have his soul separated from his body scrub the body of all memories, including cultivation memories. Copy a set of Kel Pellax's cultivation memories into the body. Hold the body in reserve, I'll be sending a more deserving recipient of the body soon. We'll have Pellax take in the new warrior to train him to return the honor that Hei Ark has stolen from his family." The Emperor commanded.

"Yes, my lord." Crisos immediately signaled a subordinate over and gave him orders. The subordinate bound ex-Commander Hei Ark and took him away.

"My Lord, what about the remaining Usurper forces?" Zug Crisos asked.

"Oh them, I didn't see anyone else worthy of a second chance. Deactivate their Samsara pods and activate a Nihil field." The Emperor said.

Zug Crisos's eyes widened in shock the Emperor was not in a forgiving mood. Deactivating the Samsara pod meant that after these soldiers were executed they would have no chance of remembering their past lives and their souls could reincarnate anywhere in the multiverse. This was already a severe punishment because it meant that these former soldiers might never rejoin their race again!

The Emperor, however, had ordered a Nihil field to be set up, this meant that their souls would be marked with a rejection sigil. They were forever banned from joining the ranks of members of the Empire. Even with entirely new cultivations and memories they would always be suppressed and rejected from any territory controlled by the Empire. These former brothers and sisters would become eternal outcasts. The shock was only momentary. Zug Crisos quickly carried out his orders.

"My Lord, the Nihil field is active." Zug Crisos informed the Emperor.

"Very good." The Emperor said.

"Listen, all members of the Usurper Army. You have betrayed your Emperor and Empress, you have murdered a Royal son. Traitors will not be tolerated. You have no place in my Empire. A Nihil Field has been activated, from this day forth your souls will be outcasts to my Empire. You will never join our people again. In your next lives, should your souls survive Samsara, you will forever be forbidden entry into the territories of the Empire. You will be eternal outcasts!" The Emperor coldly said.

The horror and despair the Usurper soldiers felt quickly spread. They thought they were doing the right thing for their Empire by ridding it of the petty Emperor and his ice-hearted Empress. They never expected that their end would be outcasts.

Suddenly a person cried out.

"Good, I Qanton Fledge do not want anything to do with this evil Empire any longer. I will happily severe my ties with you and join the Outcast Empire! We will end the oppressive rule that you have forced upon us!" The man shouted.

The Emperor signaled with his eyes to Zug Crisos. The man was immediately removed from the group.

"I shall never grant you the opportunity to do as you like." The Emperor said.

"Your orders your majesty?" Zug Crisos asked.

"Soul implosion for 1,000 years. Follow that with soul disintegration for a period of 500 years." The Emperor commanded.

"If anyone else would like to say anything please feel free to. However, before you do that, why not see what's in store for you." The Emperor mocked.

Zug Crisos nodded and brought the Usurper before the others. The outspoken man of a minute ago was stricken with terror, he begged and pleaded with the Emperor not to do it. He regretted every word he said. He knew that Soul implosion was the most painful experience a person could experience next to a prolonged soul disintegration.

The Emperor ignored it all while typing on a pad that was provided to him. The Emperor even ignored the process of soul implosion. It seemed like it wasn't even that important to him. The Emperor was truly making an example of this person.

A device was brought out and attached to Qanton Fledge's chest. Once activated, a sphere split apart and moved hundreds of meters away from Qanton. Qanton's body served as the center of the enlarged sphere.

The first step of the soul implosion process was that the body was almost completely separated from the soul. However, the soul was attached enough that it could feel the disintegration of the body. Every nerve fired pain signals, and those pain signals sent into the soul. This was only a minor torture.

Next, a special force field activated around the soul. This forcefield didn't protect the soul, instead, it turned the soul into a supergravitational phenomenon that only affected other souls. Since the sphere cut off all external access to soul energy, the soul began to attract itself. This attraction would eventually cause the creation of a spectral singularity. The soul felt all of this, it felt absolute agony. Finally, the expanded sphere would come back together encasing the spectral singularity within it. The sphere would return to its original size.

A side effect was that the screaming of the soul could be heard by every other soul near it. The sphere was collected and would be sent to the Imperial Prison where it would be stored in the soul prison which was located in the center of the Imperial Prison. This was so that all other criminals could feel the screaming soul the entire time they were in the prison. Some prisoners went insane, but most endured vowing never to do anything that would earn this kind of punishment from the Empire. Often they vowed to never act against the Empire again.

Every remaining member of the Usurper Army was relieved that they were only having their bodies disintegrated and their souls marked to prevent them from returning to their people. To them, their execution seemed more like a divine mercy and less like a punishment.

"As a final act of favor, I will recognize the previous years of service that you have provided your Empire. I shall execute you all myself. A heavy burden for an Emperor. No true Emperor would ever want to bring harm to his people. However, no true Emperor would ever hold back from doing what needs to be done." The Emperor said.

With those words said, the Emperor activated his laser vision. First, he started by destroying the Wars.h.i.+ps, but finally, he turned those inborn death rays on the last members of the Usurper Army. Everyone was disintegrated. If one were able to see their souls they would see that as the souls flew out to rejoin the universe they first past through an energy field which branded the souls. The execution was finally over. With the destruction of this army, the Usurper War was finally over. The Empire was secured.

The Queen flew to the side of her husband and ask through voice transmission.

"Tell me, the Warbox you sent with or son; whose soul did you use for the AI core?" The Empress asked.

"Whose do you think?" The Emperor responded.

"Even your own brother! How could you do that to him?" The Empress asked.

"What else could I do? He gave me no choice. I know he was used, but he raised his hand against me. The only way I could offer him any hope was to place him in the Warbox. At least he might return to us one day." The Emperor said sadly.

"Did he know? Did he know that he had been used?" The Empress asked.

"At the end he did. I shared with him all of my secrets. I showed him everything. He cried and begged for my forgiveness. It took everything I had not to break down in front of him." The Emperor said.

"Were you able to learn who was behind your brother?" The Empress asked again.

"No, even Heken didn't know." The Emperor said.

The Empress was silent for a time before asking: "Do you think our son will be successful?"

"I hope so, he's our last child. The firstborn and youngest always have a special place in a parent's heart." The Emperor said.

"I pray he survives, I hope his ending isn't like poor Markon." The Empress said as her eyes teared up.

"I do too." The Emperor said finally.

***

BS42 had taken Lorne on a tour of the s.h.i.+p. Lorne had never seen such an amazing s.h.i.+p before.

"This is the best Samsara pod ever created by the Lord Master," BS42 said.

"I don't know, my experience of advanced technology is limited. However, it is certainly the most impressive thing I have ever seen." Lorne said.

"Let's head to the navigational bridge," BS42 said. Lorne merely nodded.

Once they reached the navigational bridge, Lorne's eyes had started to sparkle. Although Lorne loved archaeology he had another love and that was science fiction. Perhaps he just found the imaginative writings and adventures exciting. Lorne had never felt imperiled before in his life, not until the Zimwer incident that is. For him, the notion of peril was a novel concept. Usually, he enjoyed the fantasies of risking it all and coming out on top. It was much more interesting than easily being able to accomplish anything he wanted in his previous life. Things were just too easy and that made life boring. Lorne realized that finding out that he was an alien when he was a child had also impacted his interest in science fiction.

Lorne laughed suddenly when the thought occurred to him that the reason he became a superhero probably had to do with finding out he was an alien with immense power. The story reminded him of other such beings that were recorded from the comics he read as a child.

Staring at the bridge, he realized that this bridge represented everything he had ever dreamed of before. The large "Captain's" chair in front of him cried out "Nostalgia!" Lorne immediately ran over to the chair and sat in it. He swiveled in it a few times and clicked a couple of switches and pushed a couple of b.u.t.tons gleefully.

BS42 made a robotic sounding cough. "Excuse me young lord, but that is my seat," BS42 said. Lorne reluctantly got up from the seat. BS42 sat down in the chair and then started explaining the navigation controls to Lorne. Lorne was deeply interested.

"May I try to fly it?" Loren asked.

"No, you're much too weak to fly this s.h.i.+p. Besides, the s.h.i.+p isn't capable of flying right now. We're currently experiencing Karmic entanglement." BS42 said.

"Karmic entanglement?" Lorne asked.

"The universe is composed of matter and energy as you may know. What you may not know is that there are other energies that make up the universe, spiritual energies, for example. Just as there are forces that work on physical objects, such as gravity, there are spiritual forces that work on spiritual objects, such as Karma. We call spiritual objects souls.

Karma is the ties that bind various existences together. It is also an invisible arbiter of justice. It also creates unexpected opportunities for the worthy. Right now, we are searching for the best opportunity for your soul. Given your selfless defense of Earth in the face of absolute destruction, you should have great opportunities available. In fact, you do, I know this because the s.h.i.+p is informing me of the sizable Karmic cords that have grasped onto the s.h.i.+p. There are both Karmic strings and Karmic cords that have attached to the s.h.i.+p.

Karma is trying to grasp your soul and bring it to its next destination. To a certain extent, we can control which path you choose. We may not be able to choose the destination exactly but we can choose between greater and lesser opportunities. However, as we began our journey the s.h.i.+p was immediately entangled by the countless numbers of Karmic strings. As we've moved through the multiverse some of the Karma threads have been broken while others have combined and strengthened. Those strings that combine are called Karmic cords. We're looking for the thickest cord. When we find it we'll allow it to control the s.h.i.+p and bring you to your new opportunity, your next life." BS42 explained.

"Will I forget my past once I reincarnate?" Lorne asked.

"No, that's another benefit of the Samsara pod.

However, prior to birth, you will feel a special kind of spiritual enlightenment that will inform you of your mission in this life. Since you can remember your last life your mission from the previous life will be added to the mission for the current life. If you can accomplish these missions then the Karmic threads for your next life will become even more numerous and amazing. The Samsara pod will record whatever you say, but it cannot record anything if you do not speak during the enlightenment period. You have to speak, if you don't speak out the mission, then the mission will have to be sought out blindly through life. It's much harder this way but not impossible. The Enlightenment process is unique. Our technology is incapable of directly controlling or recording the information from this event." BS42 said.

"Amazing, will this happen soon?" Lorne asked.

"We haven't even arrived at our destination and you haven't gone through the gestation period yet; depending on what body you are reincarnated into you might have a lot of time on your hands," BS42 said.

"What determines the gestation period?" Lorne asked.

"Two things, the species of creature you incarnate into and the level of cultivation your parents have. The stronger the parents the longer the gestation period." BS42 informed him.

"This reincarnating, does this mean that I'll never be able to see my family again?" This was the question that Lorne had wished to ask all along. He missed his wife and children. He wanted to see his children grow up. Now, he was forced to live in a new world with a new body. It seemed like it was unlikely he would ever see his family.

"I don't know. It depends on several factors." BS42 said.

Lorne was completely surprised by BS42's response. He thought for sure BS42 would tell him that there was no hope. Instead, he was being told, 'maybe.' That meant hope to Lorne. He might see his family.

"What are some of the factors?" Lorne asked.

BS42 thought for a few moments before replying.

"The best-case scenario is that we find ourselves in a universe with a timeline significantly different from our own," BS42 said.

"What do you mean?" Lorne asked.

"Not all universes are created equal or at the same time. We want a universe that moves forward at a significantly slower speed or one that is just way behind our own timeline. Don't get too happy about this possibility, there are lots of problems and questions that would need to be overcome such as the quality of the universe we arrive in. There is also the problem of relativistic multi-universal time disfasia. Different Universes develop and grow at different speeds as seen from our own universe. In our universe, a year could pa.s.s but in another year one-million years could have pa.s.sed and vice versa." BS42 explained.

"How would that work," Lorne asked.

"This is tricky, if we enter at a universe with time disfasia and then we return to our universe we could be faced with the situation where we arrive in the old universe before we left for the new universe. It's extremely complex. In fact, your father's master was actually a warrior born many many years after your father had become the Emperor. Your father had trained his master, but then his master found himself in a universe with time disfasia. When his master returned to our Zimwarn universe, it was nearly twelve million years before your father became the Emperor." BS42 said.

"The reverse could happen then. I could come back to the original universe we left from and I could appear twelve million years or more after I left." Lorne said.

"Lorne, to be honest, it is going to be very difficult to get back home. Your chances of returning home to see your family not long after left are extremely unlikely. To begin with, we don't even know where we're going to appear. Will we appear in a universe close to the one we came from? Will we find ourselves in a new, unexplored universe? If so then finding our way back to the original universe becomes even more problematic. The truth is that you should prepare yourself for the likelihood that the farewell you had with your wife and children was your final farewell.

Even if there's a chance that we can make it back, what will you do in the meantime? You have to live your life, you can't put your love life or family life on hold for an indeterminate amount of time. Humans can't live that way. You don't know the future. Your family is very important to you, but you've only lived a little over thirty years. How will you feel when you've lived one hundred years, a thousand years, or even longer? There's no way that you could know. People change with time. The more time the more change." BS42 said.

"It's a lot to take in BS42. I don't know what to think. Please don't ask me to make any decisions right now." Lorne said.

BS42 smiled faintly at Lorne, "I'm not asking you to make any decisions, I'm just trying to prepare you for an ugly possibility you might be ignoring. I don't want to rob you of your hope, but I don't want you to suffer a crueler fate than that of letting go." BS42 said.

"What could be worse than the pain of letting go?" Lorne said with red eyes.

"The pain of pointless obsession," BS42 said.

Lorne was quiet for some time.

"No point speculating on what will be. Perhaps we can save this conversation for when we arrive." Lorne said with a faint smile.

"Fair enough," BS42 said.

"Shall we continue our tour?" BS42 asked.

BS42 took Lorne to the library next. This was a place of great interest to Lorne.

"Welcome to the library. There is enough reading material here to last you an immortal's lifetime." BS42 said.

"Until pre-birth you're free to come here any time you would like to read. There is every subject you could ever desire to learn." BS42 said.

After BS42 finished his tour of the Samsara pod, Lorne spent many months living in the pod. He found that his favorite time-pa.s.sing activity was reading in the library. He couldn't eat or drink, there was nothing for him to do, but he could read. Reading was a great pleasure for Lorne, even when he was on Earth. He had read every book in the world by the time he was eighteen. Having super speed and super comprehension helped. Not having a physical body, there was no such thing as super speed for Lorne.

On the other hand as a spectral ent.i.ty, Lorne found that reading was much easier. Lorne had to be careful when reading at super speed back on Earth. If he read too fast he could accidentally set the books on fire. His father eventually built a device that allowed him to read as fast as he wanted. Unfortunately, within a week of getting the device, he finished reading all the books on Earth. After that, he would periodically reread all the books on Earth. He had probably read the entire collection of Earth's books, in every human language, hundreds of times. For an academically minded person like Lorne, this was a great tool.

One day, Lorne was reading in the Library using a technique he discovered called spirit reading. This allowed him to spread out his spirit and read multiple books at once. As soon as his spirit touched a book he instantly read and remembered the book. He had even learned eighteen new languages over the last few months they had been hurtling through the multiverse.

BS42's voice resonated in his soul. "Meet me in the gene pool, we're about to arrive."

"At last, we're arriving. It will be nice to be somewhere other than this pod." Lorne thought.

When Lorne arrived at the gene pool he found that BS42 was already there. Next to BS42 was a nearly translucent object in the shape of a pill.

"Step inside." As BS42 said this a door on the side of the pill opened.

Lorne entered and the door shut. Immediately after shutting, the 'pill' condensed around Lorne's soul. It integrated with his soul. Lorne felt slightly uncomfortable during the process.

"What's this?" Lorne asked.

This is a soul suit, it has several functions but the most important function for right now is that it will allow you to sit in the gene pool during the initial embryonic formation. Once that's done, you can step out of the embryo and wait out the gestation period on the pod until right before birth. You'll be much less bored this way. Another important function is that this suit allows for you to store the Samsara pod in your soul. It will be absolutely hidden and once you're born you'll have access to the Samsara pod." BS42 said.

Lorne was really impressed. His father's Empire should be named the Miraculous Technology Empire. Forget their sci-fi technology like Wars.h.i.+ps, battle armor, and what not; their spiritual technology was simply unbelievable. It defied reason he thought.

BS42 finished the preparations and the embryo was formed intaking the new genetic information provided by Lorne's future parents, and combining it with his original Zimwarn genetics. All four tubes filled the tube. Lorne was already laying at the bottom of the gene pool when the liquid filled the pond and surrounded Lorne's soul. The genetic information was optimized. Finally, a fetus was formed. Lorne stepped out of the embryo but noticed that nearly imperceptible energy strands seemed to connect him to the embryo.

"Those are your spirit tethers. They keep you attached to the embryo at all times. The embryo dies without its soul, but with the tether; you can leave the embryo and still sustain it with your spiritual energy." BS42 said.

"Amazing" Lorne marveled once again at this spiritual technology.

"Uh-oh," BS42 said, his eyes seemed to be looking around the room at various things, but Lorne couldn't tell what he was looking at.

"Hurry, get back into the embryo, I think you're about to be born," BS42 said hurriedly.

"What, but didn't you say...." Lorne began.

"FORGET what I said, get into the embryo RIGHT NOW!" BS42 yelled.

Lorne immediately did as he was told. As soon as he was back in the embryo he suddenly disappeared.

"How bizarre," Lorne said.